


Breaking point.

by imagination_tier



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Gen, Henry is terrifying, Ironically, Joey deserves none of this shit, Joey whump, Mental Anguish, The Author Regrets Nothing, Torture, abandon hope ye who enter here, are worse, demon henry, god why am i like this, i'm still procrastinating garbage, oc sprinkled in for plot and flavor, original demon character - Freeform, seriously read responsibly, sometimes "calm" demons, welcome aboard I'm the fucker in charge, yeah im going there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-07 13:06:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14671701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagination_tier/pseuds/imagination_tier
Summary: Of all the things Henry knew was a danger to his friends and family, this was honestly the last person he'd suspect to even bother.But the elaborate set up is impossible to mistake as someone else's handywork, and it's a race to protect something -someone- very precious to him.. . .At the mercies of another, crueler demon, Joey needs to stay strong.Henry will find him, he always does.He just needs to hold on a little bit longer. He has to.





	Breaking point.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Star_Going_Supernova](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_Going_Supernova/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So once upon a time, on a discord server, I started writing a little thing because why not. The concept was half finished at best, so I dropped it and went on to do other stuff. But the Muse is finally cooperating, so let's get this show on the road.
> 
> I preemptively apologise to all my mutuals for what I'm about to inflict upon you all.  
> Except for you star. You suffer.

Joey bites down on his tongue as he feels a deadly sharp knife dance across his back, its owner idly tracing it's pointed tip across his skin in unfamiliar (except not really) patterns. He's painfully aware of where the knife had suddenly stabbed into his flesh, down to the bone, but somehow the feather soft touch as it just barely slices him was so much worse.

At this point he doesn't even have any tears to cry anymore, wheezing pathetically when the knife is suddenly buried to the hilt in his back again.

No matter how often this has been happening it hurt,  _it_ _still_ _hurt so god damn much._

"Aww, did your voice give out already? I've barely even touched you with this knife, the least you could do is try. I know you've already blow out your voice today from the broken hands, but where's the fun if you're not screaming?" A clawed hand, familiar but not, slips under his chin and forces him to tilt his head upwards.

And his view was suddenly filled with Henry.

Henry, in his half demon form.

Henry with a bloody knife and bloodier hands, surrounded by other instruments of pain.

Henry smirking oh so cruelly at him.

 

 

No, that wasn't right. Joey straightens a bit, the fog brought on by the immense pain fading a bit with something else to focus his attention on.

not Henry, never Henry.

_But an imposter wearing his friend's face._

Mustering up as much of his remaining strength he can, Joey spits a glob of bloody spit at his tormenter's face. Despite being blindfolded, it manages to convey that is was blinking in utter contempt and bemusement.

"You're so lucky I'm almost done with you and don't want to mess up the plan this late in the game." His tormenter casually runs a hand that had no right to be so gentle across his back, knitting the butchered flesh back together as if the injuries had never been there. Then it runs a finger down his arms, painfully putting the broken bones back together.

"I really don't get why you're still being stubborn. But then, again, you never where the sharpest tool in the shed, eh eh?" the imposter waves its blade around, as if it would make the joke work.

"You're-," Joey doubles over as he falters, body now healed but mind still reeling from the phantom sensations of nearly unbearable agony. "You, a-are n-ot, Henry."

It manages to convey a very unimpressed eye roll as it picks up another blade, thin and pulsing energy from the runes etched into the handle. "Humans, such pathetic, wretched things. I can barely remember why I bothered with you all these years. Believe what you want, it doesn't change the fact that you're an idiotic excuse for a magick user that can't accept the truth."

It runs a cool and oddly clean hand across his back again, and a wicked sharp tip dances across his skin again. Joey has just enough time to wonder why the thing wearing his friend's face had bothered with washing its hand in the middle of a session when it suddenly slams an open palm onto his shallow bleeding wounds.

_'Henry. Please, I need your help.'_

If he'd seen more aware, Joey would be upset with himself for wrecking his voice again so soon after getting it fixed.

. . .

Henry's rage was bubbling harshly underneath his skin, aura angry and snapping and more than ready to tear apart whatever it thought would get it what it sought.

In this case, the unfortunate bastard is the weird creature dangling from Henry's clenched fist by the throat. It tries in vain to escape, kicking around as it ineffectively hisses its lungs out, but the angered demon tightens his grip to bruising levels.

"Am I going to have to repeat myself, or are you going to cooperate?" Henry hisses, a good deal of his demonic voice spilling past his lips. He was far past any sense of decency as he glares daggers into the creature he's captured. 

His aura had finally been able to track the source of whatever was blocking Joey's position to him to this struggling creature, and he was not going to leave till he had answers. Every minute wasted dealing with this thing is another minute where Joey is left in the "loving" claws of a very dangerous demon.

"Where is Joey Drew?" Henry snarls, his human voice barely audible under his hellish one.

The thing remains stubbornly silent besides the intelligible hissing, it's pale blue fur bristling with every movement. Henry increases his grip,  _ever so slightly off from snapping its head clean off_.

This caused a response, their squeezed shut eyes popping open in actual panic. Looks like he's finally struck a nerve. Henry knows that physical injuries honestly mean exactly nothing to these particular creatures, but they're capable of freakig out just like other beings, and he needs them to spill the beans.

"Ghah!?! Would you let up!?" they wheeze around Henry's hand, no longer struggling. "I told you, I can't do anything for you! A demon came to me with a few Favors to her name and cashed em in, and I was assigned to handle our end of the bargain. I had to what she asked, do you think I can just  _ignore the rules_!?!? Not even the Grand Matriarch herself would protect me from the full retribution the entire god damn ~~extradimensional~~ community would seek if I even thought of it!"

The demon raised an eyebrow at his captive. "She? What else can you tell me about this 'she'?" The creature falls silent again, so he increases the strength of his grip again. The reaction is nearly instantaneous, the creature's eyes shrinking down into thin slits before they start to word vomit anything that they could think would get them out of the situation at a fast pace.

And the demon listens intently.

. . .

"Who's behind this?! This isn't funny, let me out already!"

Joey Drew had literally no idea where he was or how he'd gotten here. All he knew was that mere moments ago he was going over the budgets and the next he was chained to a very uncomfortable wooden chair in what looked like a torture dungeon straight out of an angsty teenager's personal writing.

Trying to wiggle out had proven futile, and calling upon his magick had only succeeded in making him sick to his stomach.

A heavy  _thud!_ suddenly breaks the silence, caused by who knows what. All that Joey was concerned with he at his heart was beating almost painfully against his ribs, desperately trying to keep himself from actually panicking. 

Joey bit down on his lip, not willing to work himself into hysterics. He needed to focus on getting out of here, this was probably ~~~~~~hopefully~~ ~~~~some asshole's idea of a joke, or as some kind of payback. Sure, let's grab the magick user and stash him in a nullifying room! Won't that be a riot!?

Joey startled out of his internal musings when the sound of footsteps invaded his ears.

"Hey, who's over there?" Joey called out into the dark. Suddenly, the various candles in the room rose high and flared a bright blue, casting the room in strange shadows.

And then, from beyond the large iron door, Henry came trough in his half demon form. The human blinked at him, momentarily stunned, before smiled brightly at his friend, worries forgotten to instead focus on the fact that his friend was here.

"Henry! Thank goodness you found me so quickly, can you help me get out of these? I can't do it myself."

Henry sighed with an annoyed frown on his face, rather uncharacteristic too. "How cute. Am I going to have to spell out what happened to you, or do you think you'll be able to figure it out by yourself?"

Joey instantly knew that this wasn't Henry. It played a good game, visually there were no imperfections in the imposter's looks; from the slight iridescence on the curving horns to the macabre tear like scars that marred its cheeks.

But Joey had been friends with Henry Ross for a great many years, and it would take more than a convincing disguise to trick him. So he glared fiercely at the thing that had the audacity to wear his friend's face.

Not-Henry's frown deepened, sighing heavily through his nose.

"You know what, I don't care for guessing games. Basically, you've outlived your use. And since I've had to put up with your breathtaking stupidity for so long, I figured it was only right to tie up some loose ends before getting rid of you for good." And with that the imposter started walking around the room, inspecting each and every instrument of torture with surgical precision.

It took its time, seemingly not in a rush as they went from tool to tool. Joey couldn't help but slowly tense as the deafening silence continued.

It picked up a small but wickedly curved dagger, and then suddenly it as right in front of Joey and was digging its chosen weapon into his chest.

Joey screamed in pain, every panicked breath only adding to the agony. But he was still chained up tight, and couldn't even move an inch out of the way. The human's screams reached a painful, awful crescendo as the monster slowly but surely dragged its blade downward, tearing through his flesh from under his collarbone till right above his hip.

The creature had the gall to  _pat his hair, like he was some sort of distressed pet_ , but Joey couldn't exactly do much given his position. A shame, he really wanted to bite down on the hand patting him.

"Now now, dry your tears," wait he was crying? When, when did that happen? "It's almost cute how low your pain tolerance is. Trust me, this is only the beginning. We're gonna have some fun, won't we?"

. . .

"You're not very good at this, are you mister Ross?"

"It's not as easy as it looks Pinear!" Henry Ross; animator, best friend of one Joey Drew, and the owner of the kindest heart of demon kind, had been seated cross-legged in front of the tiny dryad child (the proper term was sapling, but honestly speaking it was weird) as he tried to coax the small flower bud in his hands into blooming. Despite his earnest efforts, the bud had been unmoving for the past ten minutes.

"I do understand that I have an unfair advantage, but it's, quite honestly, embarrassing that you can't manage even such a basic trick," the tiny child said bluntly as they continued to weave an elaborate flower crown, pulling it's colorful components from beneath the thick strands of deep brown hair.

Henry pouted at the perpetually unimpressed child as they pulled a tiger Lily from their hair. It wasn't his fault that his aura and plants didn't agree much!

"Yeah yeah, laugh at your elders you little gremlin."

"I'm a dryad and I'm not even laughing," they said bluntly. The young dryad paused in their weaving to tilt their head in the direction of the studio, senses dancing across its inhabitants. They were quite a bit away.

"When's my sir coming out?" There is was. Henry had been honestly surprised that Pinear has managed to not ask for Joey for as long as they did. Pinear had never bothered with hiding the fact that they vastly preferred the company of the studio's most trouble causing human over most others. There was definitely some bias as Joey has (unintentionally) quite literally saved the then dying dryad and his skill with plant magick, but mostly it was just that Pinear really liked Joey.

"He's still working, he has a job you know."

"Jobs sound stupid, who would willingly subject themselves to that kind of stuff?" Their nose was scrunched up, a sign that they were thinking out loud and weren't expecting an answer.

They softly poked Henry in the ribs to grab his attention. "Your channeling is fine enough, and you have more than enough magick to work with. If I had to guess, I'd say that somehow your intention is getting twisted before it makes it to the flora. I honestly don't know how you manage to mess up that badly."

"You know, I could always find someone else to help me," the demon grumbled.

"Of course, but you're still here aren't you?" Pinear sassed as they finished their floral creation with a soft pink carnation.

"Are you sure you're not a gremlin?" Henry muttered a bit under his breath.

"Quite positive," Pinear said as they got up and wrapped their flower crown around the base of their tree. They bounced up and down on their toes, pleased with their handiwork. Pinear suddenly pivoted on a heel to face Henry, a honestly questioning look on their face.

"Mr. Ross, where is sir?" Henry crouched a bit and ruffled the dryad's curls.

"He'll come when he's finished, he promised didn't he?" Pinear looked even more unconvinced, frowning.

"But he's not in the studio anymore, he hasn't been for a while. I can sense his absence clearly."

Wait, what?

"Wait, what?" Henry said, echoing the first thought  his head. That couldn't be right, Henry knew where his friend was, he-.

His aura reached out to the studio, and Henry could feel his insides sink to his feet and lower.

He was gone.

_Joey was gone he's not at the studio anymore where is he something doesn't feel right about this why didn't he say anything about going somewhere who took him why can't you sense him where could he have gone you could have sworn he was still how did you not notice how long has he been missing YOU NEED TO FIND HIM YOU NEED TO FIND HIM RIGHT NOW!!!!!!_

"Henry!" The demon was knocked out of his downward spiraling thoughts as a pair of skinny but strong arms wrapped tightly around his middle, Pinear looking up at him with tears stubbornly clinging to the ends of their lashes like dew.

"Pinear, how long has he been missing?!?" The dryad tilted their head.

"You don't know he was missing? But where could he have gone?"

Henry didn't have an answer.

. . .

Joey had just about let himself slip away into a fitful slumber, the once deafening silence of his prison now happily embraced. Silence was good, it meant that he could think without getting distracted, could remind himself why he wasn't giving up yet.

_"Now, hold still. This is very delicate work and I will not let you ruin it because you're having a fit."_

_Joey glared venomously at the creature at the center of his torture, scowling under the gag attached to his jaw. He refused to be anything but viciously proud of the fact that he'd managed to annoy the thing with his near constant attempts to bite that it had lately refused to work without his jaws firmly kept shut._

_He took what victories he could in this hellhole._

_Currently it was carefully draining some of his blood, something about it being a useful bargaining chip. Between his internal cursing and the rapidly setting in lightheadedness, Joey could not have given a damn if he'd tried._

_Another thing that annoyed him currently was that the not-Henry had dropped its usual guise for one resembling his friend's human form. It was honestly immensely disconcerting to see something so similar to his closest friend pad around in a torture dungeon, it's clothes clashing horribly with the rest of the place's aesthetic._

_He **really** whished that he could do worse._

_Not-Henry glances at him, annoyance very obvious on its borrowed face, before going back to its chore._

_"Oh hush, I can smell the murderous intent all the way over here. Considering how many times I had to keep your ignorant behind from dying an early and embarrassing death, the least you could do it be a little quiet."_

_Somehow, Joey's glare intensified. If looks could kill this bastard would've been long dead._

It was getting harder and harder to remember what he was holding out for, memories of happier times pushed to the back of his mind to deal with the current trauma.

He was fraying at the edges and knew it, but that only made him more determined to keep it together.

" _HAHAHAHA, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'D FALL FOR THAT!!! You're just so pathetic, it's mind boggling really."_

_Joey could only wheeze around the clawed hand wrapped tightly around his throat. This day had started promising, the imposter nowhere in sight. Then, he'd heard the screaming, demanding from some other person to tell how he'd gotten into this place._

_And the final nail in this particular coffin, Henry knocking the iron door clean of its hinges._

_He'd asked if he was ok, if he was really injured, and joey really cried for the first time in a ~~how long has it been?~~ long while. He'd been happily blubbering through the tears and the old pain, about how he knew Henry would find him, how he hadn't given up hope._

_Then the laughing had started as something squeezed his neck painfully tight, and suddenly it was the imposter in front of him. The sound reverberated trough Joey's skull, mind still trying to process that "Henry wasn't here, he'd never been" and "I walk right into that setup like an idiot, no wonder ~~he's~~ it's cracking up"._

_Don't worry," it cooed mockingly at him as he tried to breathe, "I'm good at this game, remember? I'd be really surprised if you'd **actually** managed to figure it out."_

_Then, it was business as usual I this hellhole._

He refused to give up, no matter what happened. He may not posses the terrifying determination that Henry did, but Joey Drew was no weak willed coward.

 _. ._.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T FIND HIM!?!"

Practically the entire studio shook with the force of its one demon's roar. Its workers were in no better shape, either paralyzed in fear (courtesy of Henry's agitated aura trashing about in utter annoyance) or running themselves ragged trying to help wherever they could. Even now, with so many books on the supernatural and magick scattered about, there had been an almost palpable tension steadily building up within the studio's walls.

It had been a whole week since Joey's sudden and inexplicable disappearance, and they were no closer to finding out what had happened, much less where he was now.

The first day had been especially bad, Henry freaking out badly and noticably as he desperately tried to find his missing friend. As the hours steadily ticked into days, a good chunk of this desperate energy had transferred into a cold, dangerous chill that was somehow even more terrifying than his outburst on the first day. His demon side had been bleeding through more and more, some convinced that he wasn't able to keep his human appearance.

The seer seated across from him blink her unseeing eyes, posture loose. She didn't seem very concerned with the angry demon across from her.

"Like I said, there's something currently surrounding Joey Drew that's blocking even my sight. I can look again if it makes you happy, but I can't help you with this, unknown, blocking my powers. I'm sorry." The seer gave a polite bow and picked up her jacket from the chair's arm and left, footsteps and cane somehow echoing loudly despite the increased buzz the studio was going through.

Henry groaned, hands carting through his brunette locks. He really shouldn't have yelled at her, but with every minute Joey remains MIA Henry could feel his anger and desperation settle down into deep, heavy fury. The kind of fury he rarely allowed to fester like it was right now.

"Henry, are you doing ok?" The demon looked up and his creation, his Bendy, was standing in the doorway. The small toon was nervously wringing his gloved hands together, looking like he wanted to say something but didn't know how to word it.

"C'mon over here," the older demon said as he opened his arms. The toon quickly rushed over to hug his Creator as tightly as he could. He was still at loss for words, so physically comforting Henry was all that he could offer in these trying times. 

Henry just sat there, hugging Bendy as tight as he could without hurting him. His nerves were still as frazzled as his aura, but the embrace was nice at least.

"Don't worry Henry, you're going to find him. And then you're gonna kick the rear of whoever's behind him disappearing," the toon demon said confidently into his chest. Somehow, Henry wasn't sure that that would be the case.

If only there were some way to get around whatever was blocking the attempts to find Joey.

"Perhaps I could be of assistance?" Henry jolted a little, but calmed down when he realized who it was. Just the studio's Intern.

She was a strange one to be frank; quite cold and snappish when not being distant, and with a weird presence to her, similar to what non humans felt like yet completely foreign and so immensely discomforting. That was honestly all Henry had been able to find out about her besides from her immaculate paperwork.

Sometimes he wondered ~~what~~  

~~No. Don't go further~~

~~This is outside of what you may know Aztrayos~~

~~Turn back. Now~~

Henry managed to put on a smile, sad it may be, as he unwrapped Bendy's arms from his middle. "Sorry about not noticing you there, it's been a stressful week. What can I do for you miss-"

"I have an idea of what's behind mister Drew's disappearance," she cuts in smoothly, "and I can help you get him back." That immediately caught Henry's attention, who pushed himself of the chair  fast as he could to stand in front of the intern, not even stopping to set Bendy on the ground.

"What do you know??"

"A lot, mostly stuff I can't talk about unless I want to make someone mad. ~~Not like I would, what do you need to know about the ~~~~ ~~extradimensional community~~~~ ~~anyway?~~  But a certain someone may or may not be willing to bend the rules for you." The intern made a motion at Bendy to leave, and after a glance at Henry confirmed that he wasn't challenging her decision he moved out of the room with minimal grumbling. 

The intern watched the small toon leave and sighed heavily before sitting down on the desk. "I  _really_ shouldn't be doing this, but I'd prefer to keep the situation from escalating further than it already has. If you're willing to deal with the consequences, I'll help you as much as I can."

Henry went quiet as he thought about his next action. Agreeing to unknown terms was rarely, if ever a good idea. But it's been a week with no sign of Joey's whereabouts, and something was telling him that this might be his one chance before it was too late.

"I agree to your terms."

The intern have him a crooked grin, blinking slowly ~~Henry could've _sworn_ that her eyes had changed in between blinks~~ ~~~~and gestured to the abandoned chair. "Well listen up then mister Ross, because this is going to get complicated fast."

. . .

Henry sighs in relief as he exits the basement level, where he's kept the human for the past month or so. He stretches as he walks to his quarters on one of the higher floors.

With a horrific cracking noise, followed by unearthly squelching sounds, his body warps and twists and contorts, changing in ways that could only be called unnatural. The demon's stride remains unhindered by these extreme changes, and a long sleek tail swishing happily as she shakes of the remainder of the heavy illusion. Her (literally) skeletal arms creak as the stress upon them is suddenly gone, and she smiles.

The demoness known as Desdemona let's out a pleased trilling sound, discarding the ridiculous clothes she'd been forced to put up with in a hallway, before pulling one of her preferred layered white lace dresses from her closet with a twist of her aura. It was fancier than her usual get up, but she felt like the occasion called for a little dressing up.

You see, Desdemona was going to die very soon.

She held no illusions about actually surviving the encounter she's orchestrated between herself and her dear old Aztrayos. Even if she managed to get through to him, the sheer _audacity_ of what she's done would be enough to get him truly enraged. And of course she couldn't forget that he was bound to be, "displeased" with her treatment of his pet human.

But she was a spiteful creature, and she could see no better way to go then at the hands of someone she'd, perhaps in the past or in another world all together, would've called her best friend.

But that is not this world, however the sentiment stays unchanged.

The blue skinned demoness sits down at a tall vanity mirror, raising a hand up to activate it. Her reflection disappears, leaving a bird's eye view of a war torn, burnt hellscape. She pays no attention to the usual view of her strongholds surroundings, instead focusing on any new faces. Her hands dance elegantly through the air, as if playing a harp, and the view twists from scene to scene.

She's just about ready to call it done for the hour when a form rockets towards the stronghold, nearly wrecking the surroundings even more then they already are. She'd recognize that aura anywhere.

Desdemona grins widely, all glistening fangs and ruby lips.

"My oh my, how cute~." So he'd found her already? Pity, she'd hoped to have a little longer to play with the human, but Aztrayos was undoubtedly a terrifying force of nature and determination. Even with the ridiculous roadblocks she'd piled in his way he'd managed to locate her faster than most experts would've managed.

Desdemona pulls a bottle of deep red wine to herself and pours some into a beautiful glass shaped like it had a thorny rose wrapped around it (if she had any flesh in her hands they'd have been torn to shreds by the dainty but sharp spikes). She lifts her glass in a toast, fangs glinting like freshly sharpened knives in the candlelight of her quarters.

"Well then Aztrayos, I so look forward to seeing you again."

Desdemona was going to die soon, but she'd be leaving a permanent mark on him if she had any say.

(She couldn't wait to see what he thought of the little "gift" she's given his pet human.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Cries because shit this got so long*


End file.
